Alien Like You
by MistressSymone
Summary: Picks up where "O Come, All Ye Faithful" finished. Elena is leaving with Bonnie after Damon invoked the sire bond, heading back to the Boarding House, where Stefan is waiting. Based on a song that reminds me of Damon's relationship with Elena. Alien Like You by Sebastian Pigott.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

_-I know that you don't, know that I know what you know-_

Damon watched her leave with Bonnie and hated himself for letting her go…probably right back into his brother's arms.

…

Elena was completely silent during the car ride home, staring listlessly at the passing scenery. Her body was telling her to put as much distance between her and Damon as possible, but her heart was longing to go back to him.

"You okay, 'Lena?" Bonnie asked casting a glance at her friend in the passenger seat.

Elena nodded. "Yeah…I just feel bad leaving him there." She admitted.

"Jeremy will be fine…Damon won't let anything happen to him."

Elena smiled and let her friend think that it was Jeremy that she was talking about. In truth, she knew Jeremy would be fine. But Damon was staying with a vampire hunter that wanted to kill his own sister only twenty minutes ago…and she missed him already. She felt like a puppy being abandoned by her owner. She wanted to tell Bonnie to turn around and leave her at the lake house. "I know." She said instead.

…

Stefan waited. He didn't know how long he would have to, but he wasn't leaving the Boarding House until they came home. He was livid at his brother for lying to him and at Elena for not knowing any better because of the sire bond. He knew it wasn't a valid excuse but he blamed her anyway.

It must have been an hour or so after Caroline finally left before the door creaked open and shut heavily. Elena moved slowly taking off her jacket as she walked into the destroyed living room, taking in the damage before settling on Stefan. "What the hell Stefan?"

He rose stiffly crossing his arms over his chest. "Are you sleeping with him?"

Elena evaded the question by addressing the room. "Did you do this?" she bit out in irritation. She was trying to maintain the anger she felt building up towards him.

He sped right up to her and smashed his fist into the wall beside the wall he pinned her to. "ARE YOU SLEEPING WITH HIM?!" he yelled, his whole body tight with rage.

Elena lifted her chin defiantly. "Yes Stefan. Yes…I slept with him." Stefan backed off stunned by her brutal honesty. "Why are you asking questions, you don't want the answers to? He makes me happy!"

Stefan scoffed and shook his head. "It's the sire bond, Elena!"

"Maybe that's part of it…but I know what I'm feeling, Stefan. The sire bond effects how you act not how you feel, and you're _forcing_ Damon to let me go for the 'greater good'?! Whose greater good, Stefan, mine or yours?" she ranted with a fiery tone.

He took a moment to collect himself from her verbal assault. "You don't understand-"

"Oh I think I do. You thought that because I'm sired to Damon every choice I've made since turning into a vampire was based on that…including our break up. You think that if Damon freed me that I'd be running back to you. Well guess what…he did it, to please _you_ Stefan, even though I begged him not to."

Stefan's angry glare turned into a confused frown. "He let you go?"

Elena nodded, suddenly feeling very upset. "I was happy…and so was he. You took that from him."

"It wasn't real." He continued to insist.

"Yes it is! And even if it wasn't who are you to step in and make decisions for either of us! That girl that you keep looking for, the one that you saved…she's gone, she's not coming back; so stop trying so hard. This cure that you and Klaus have been teaming up over to find, I don't want it." Elena exclaimed firmly.

Stefan stepped closer changing his tone, approaching her as if she were a defensive animal. "This cure will save you from this life."

Elena looked skyward in frustration and paired it with a growl of aggravation. "Stop. Trying. To save me!" Elena enunciated every word. "Can't you just accept me the way I am now?"

Stefan was silent for a tense moment. "You deserve more than this, Elena."

She shrugged her shoulders sardonically. "Why? Is it because my parents died, because I'm the doppelganger, because I lost more people in one year than I have my whole life? Why Stefan, what makes me so _special _that I _deserve _more." She was letting go of all the tension that she had been hiding from Stefan by avoiding him.

"You didn't ask for this."

"Neither did you or Damon or Caroline. Hell, Katherine didn't ask for this either, but we deal with it." She sighed in exhaustion. She felt miserable. All she wanted was to curl up in Damon's bed and sleep and wait for him to come back. She moved passed Stefan and stopped at the first step of the stairs, turning back around to face him, with her hand resting on the post. "Damon loves me no matter what I am. He doesn't try to change me or force me to be someone I'm not. I can just be me." She continued her way up the stairs. "I'm taking a nap." She tossed over her shoulder tiredly, leaving Stefan standing alone in the room.

…

"So what's going on with you and my sister?" Jeremy asked Damon bluntly while they were playing video games in the games room.

Damon visibly flinched. "Nothing."

"Liar."

Damon kept his eyes focused on the game in front of him. "I thought it was something, turns out it wasn't, now it's nothing." Jeremy hit pause and turned to him. "Hey…I was totally winning."

"I saw you two, she was happy…and then suddenly she's leaving looking like someone just killed her puppy. Doesn't make sense."

"Like I said, I thought it was something." He tried to be as nonchalant as possible, but failed with his disappointed tone.

"The sire bond." He guessed. "Bonnie filled me in." he explained seeing Damon's stare snap to his.

He nodded his head with a well-timed eye roll. Obviously it was Bonnie that blabbed. "It's better this way. What she feels for me…" he reluctantly continued. "isn't real. It wouldn't be fair to her." He stated resolutely.

Jeremy nodded. "Thanks man…I know that couldn't have been easy for you."

Damon shrugged. "Oh, walk in the park." He gestured to the screen with his game control. "Now press start so I can finish whooping your ass."

…

Klaus stepped away from the fountain when Carol stopped struggling and walked away with a blank look on his face. He was deceived again. His hybrids, the people he was supposed to trust, had plotted against him. They broke the sire bond, like Tyler did, with his help no doubt. Now they're dead…and he had nothing. It only cemented what he'd already known. Infinite and utter loneliness.

He honed his senses and began his search for Tyler…he would suffer, and so would his little bitch of a werewolf.

…

April shakily put her hands around the dagger sticking out of Rebekah's chest. Why would someone do this to her? Why would someone want to kill this bubbly blonde and leave her in a cave?

She knew that the girl was already dead, probably for a while by the desiccated grey shade of her skin, but she pulled the dagger out with some effort and dropped it letting it clatter on the cave floor with a deafening echo. Rebekah was her only chance at finding out about her father, and now she had no chance.

She cried silently for her friend, using her Miss Mystic Falls sash to wipe her tear stained face. Moments later Rebekah's eyes popped open and her skin slowly started to melt back into its creamy white pallor. With a gasp she sat up and the sudden movement had April scrambling until her back hit the wall behind her.

"W-what…how are you…?" she trailed off in shock.

The Original stood up and dusted herself off stepping out of the coffin. "My brother is a sorry excuse for a man." She grumbled, not even paying attention to April. When April's shallow breathing caught her attention she smiled calmly. "April…" she started pleasantly. She darted in front of her and hauled her to her feet, biting into her neck and enjoying her first taste of blood since her temporary demise. When she had her fill she captured the girl's bleary stare. "You won't remember any of this. You tripped in the woods."

April frowned. "B-but you were dead; you bit me!"

Rebekah raised a brow in awareness. "You're wearing vervain." She scanned her for the offending herb, and smirked when she spotted the bracelet on her wrist. She ripped it off quickly and threw it behind her. "Let's try this again. You were never here, you never saw me…you fell on your way home from," she looked her up and down, "wherever you were, and you're gonna patch that up and you'll be fine. Understand?"

April nodded blankly.

"Good…off you go then." She stepped to the side and let April leave the cave. Rebekah looked down at the hole in her shirt. "Damn it Nicklaus…" she cursed under her breath. "This was my favorite top."

…

It was the middle of the night when she felt an uncomfortable feeling. She darted out of her slumber to meet Klaus' dead glower. "Klaus…" her breathing picked up when she noticed he was covered in blood sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Surprised?" he smirked bitterly. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know where Tyler is, would you?"

She swallowed nervously. "No…no, I haven't seen him since the Winter Party, why?"

Klaus narrowed his eyes trying to deceiver if she was telling him the truth. "Did you know?"

She shook her head feigning confusion. "Know what? Why are you covered in blood?" She exhaled when he stood gracefully and busied himself with looking at the photos on her mirror and the playing with the pom-poms on her vanity.

"They turned against me." He glanced at her over his shoulder. "My hybrids. They broke the sire bond…I believe Tyler was behind it, him and his little wolf whore."

Caroline couldn't agree more with his terminology regarding Hayley. "What did you do?" she already knew.

He smiled widely. "I left him eleven presents…unfortunately for him I already ripped into them." His smiled dropped instantly and he was back at her side. "Did you know they were plotting against me? Don't lie to me, Caroline." He said her name with such tenderness and trust that she felt bad for him.

She gave him her most innocent look and shook her head. "I didn't know…Tyler didn't tell me anything, I swear." She was taking a huge risk in lying to him blatantly. All Klaus had to do was compel the truth from her lips and she would be dead like the rest of them, so she relied on the tentative bond they shared in order to save her from that fate.

Klaus nodded. "Thank you…" he let the back of his hand trace the side of her face. "You're the only person I can trust." He stated hollowly.

"Please don't kill Tyler…" she begged in a whisper. "It's Hayley…it's got to be, she's been up to something and she's using him to do it."

Klaus sighed. Why couldn't he say no to her? "I've left him with a warning. If you see him you tell him if he makes one wrong move against me again, he's dead. Not even you will be able to sway me." He was gone in a blur out her window the way he came.

…

Tyler tried relentlessly to get a hold of his mother. After witnessing the mess that was left in the woods and Kim in the Lockwood cellar, he knew he had to run…but he needed to see his mom first. He looped back, mindful to hide his tracks, and headed back home. He knew he couldn't stay there long, if Klaus was looking for him it would be the first place he'd start. As he passed the main courtyard he spotted a figure hanging in the fountain. Tyler stopped, his eyes widening as he recognized the familiar dress. "Mom?!"

He darted over pulling her face out of the water and pulling her into his arms and brushing the wet hair out of her face. "Mom?! Mom!" he shook her, and bit into his wrist and put it to her mouth before the wound closed. He cried in anguish when she made no move to swallow. "Come on….Come on!" She only lay limply and listlessly in his arms. Collapsing to the ground in a sorrowful heap, he cried, knowing who did this…and knowing that Klaus wouldn't be getting away with it.

…

Shane waited for Hayley to come. When the door to his office opened, his eyes darted up. "I told you to _fix_ the problem, Hayley…not fuck it up completely."

She had tears in her eyes, knowing that Tyler was most likely dead. "I tried…Caroline got in the way, she tried to change the plan. Someone told Klaus what we were trying to do." She explained.

Professor Shane raised his brows. "We?"

"Not us; the hybrids. They thought a witch was going to put Klaus in Tyler's body; that was how I was going to get them all together." She dropped into the chair opposite him in a heap of frustration. Hayley was so close to finding out more about her parents, and then she failed.

Atticus nodded. "So where are the hybrids?"

Hayley was silent for an entire ten seconds before she lifted her head slowly. "If Klaus knew…" she trailed off.

Atticus stood angrily from his chair and raised a hand to the bridge of his nose. "Damn it, Hayley! I needed those hybrids!" he slammed his fist on the desk. "All _twelve_ of them! That was the deal!"

"I'm sorry!"

Atticus Shane looked her dead in the eyes. "You're going to be."

…


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey all Thank you kindly for all your very inspiring reviews! I'm sorry I haven't gotten the chance to get back to you all but I promise from now on I will! You are the reason I'm writing and you deserve some acknowledgment :) Sorry it has taken me so long to post this chapter, I'm in the process of moving and it's eating up a lot of my spare time. Also I promise that future chapters won't be as short as this, I just wanted to get this up before The Vampire Diaries aired tonight! Who else is as excited as I am? Enjoy!

Chapter 2:

_-We've got secrets between us that nobody else would believe if we told them-_

Elena felt the sun hit her face the next morning, but she refused to open her eyes. She hoped that Damon would be there beside her, tracing the lines of her face with his eyes as he usually did, but she knew better. He was still up at the lake house with her brother, and she was still here in his bed waiting for him to return.

Nothing felt right. She felt uncomfortable in her own skin. The sun shone too bright. Her head shot up from Damon's pillow when she heard someone at the door. She was at the staircase in an instant, looking down at whoever had entered.

Elena was disappointed to see Caroline and not Damon, but faked a smile and continued down the stairs. "Hey." She greeted softly.

"Hey…so besides the fact that you and Damon lied to me and to Stefan, we have problems." The blonde vampire wasn't pleased that Elena had secretly been seeing Damon even after she told her about the sire bond.

Elena frowned, letting Caroline's comment slide. "What's going on?"

Caroline marched into the living room, dropping her bag to the floor and collapsed into the couch, with Elena sitting opposite her. "I got a visit from Klaus last night…right after he _killed_ all of the hybrids!" she exclaimed in her usual dramatic way.

Elena's brows shot up her face. "What? Why?"

"Tyler was helping them break the sire bond, they were going to move Klaus to Rebekah's body, bury her in cement and then they would make their escape. Fast forward passed Hayley breaking my neck and leaving me in the Grill bathroom, somehow Klaus found out what the plan was and killed them all." She inhaled when she ran out of breath.

Elena took a moment to process everything her friend just said. "Tyler?"

Caroline shook her head. "Klaus wasn't able to find him, but he said he'd leave him with a warning…whatever that means." She shook her head in thought. "I just don't know who would have told Klaus."

Elena smiled bitterly despite herself. "Stefan…it was Stefan. He's been working with Klaus to find the cure for me. If Klaus is dead then so is his plan." She deducted.

"Stefan wouldn't do that." She defended her friend.

"Yes he would…I need to tell Damon. He should know what's going on." Elena moved to get up but Caroline's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Elena, I know you think that what you're feeling is real, but you only feel this way because he wants you to feel this way. It's the sire bond." She tried to explain gently.

Elena fixed her with a hard stare. "Damon invoked the sire bond, Caroline. He let me go, he did exactly what Stefan told him to, and nothing's changed. If anything I feel worse! You and Stefan are just using this as an excuse for what I feel for him! You can't fathom that I would _actually_ love him for who he is."

Caroline blinked in surprise. "You love him now?! How can you love him after everything he did to you, to _me_! He killed Bonnie's mom, snapped Jeremy's neck…he would have killed Matt if you didn't stop him." She listed off on her fingers in fury of her friend's warped decision.

"We've all done bad things, I killed someone!"

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because Damon _told _you to!"

Elena sighed tired of fighting. "I know you don't approve…but I don't care. Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to bed." She stated darting her eyes to the door, showing Caroline out. She wanted nothing more than to hibernate.

Caroline stood in shock. "Seriously Elena! Do you realize what this is doing to our friendship? Because of Damon we are always fighting-"

Elena cut her off. "No, because of _you_, we're always fighting. When you were with Matt I just accepted it, because he made you happy. Why can't anyone else do the same for me?"

"Because it's _Damon_! He swooped in and stole you from Stefan with his charm and those baby blues and you _fell_ for it."

"I know who Damon is. I know he's cocky and persistent and dangerous…but he's also honest and sweet more selfless than he makes himself seem." Elena crossed her arms when Caroline rolled her eyes. "Did you know that I met Damon before I met Stefan?"

Her friend frowned in misunderstanding "What?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "The night my parents died…I was waiting for them and we talked about what I wanted out of life. He thought I wanted what everyone else wanted; passion, adventure and maybe even a little danger." She smiled to herself as she quoted him. "Before he left he said he wanted me to find everything that I was looking for." The smile faded from Elena's face. "Before I turned, when I was on my way back to Stefan I told Damon that things would have been different if I met him first…and instead of making me remember what he compelled me to forget, he let me go. He did the right thing by Stefan, and by me…we're the two most important people in his life, and he's always sacrificing his happiest for ours." Elena let out a bitter chuckle. "You know everyone notices the bad in him first…they never stop and look at all the good he's done for us, all of us!"

Caroline looked down and her hands, having the decency to feel shame for being included with that group.

"He helped bring Stefan back from being a ripper, He saved you _and _Tyler from being sacrificed, he has _always_ been there for me." She finished strongly. "It's about time someone was there for him."

…

Tyler sat on his mother's couch as Sheriff Forbes stared at him sympathetically. He knew there was nothing she could do; her presence was only out of concern for him and her friendship to Carol. "I'm so sorry, Tyler. If there's anything I can do…"

He stared at a scratch on the hardwood at his feet with a tense scowl. All he could think about was that if his mom was alive she would lose her mind over that scratch. "He did this to punish me…he wants me to suffer." He managed to bite out with barely contained rage and grief.

"This wasn't you're fault."

For the first time since they both sat down, Tyler met Liz's eyes. "Yes it is." His phone rang in his front pocket and he answered it reluctantly. It was probably yet another person wondering why Carol didn't show up for the morning Council meeting. "Hello?"

"_Hello Tyler._" The voice on the other end of the phone startled him.

"_Rebekah?_" There was no way she could be awake. She was daggered in the coffin. He'd _seen_ the coffin last night in the cellar.

Rebekah smiled to herself as she casually strolled through a clothing store. "Surprised?"

Tyler stood and held up a hand to Liz, asking her to wait as he took the call in the entryway. "How are you awake?"

Rebekah smiled to herself. "Funny thing about friends…they pull the daggers out of your back not put them there. Well in this case it was my chest, but I digress."

Mad about his mother's sudden death at the hands of her brother as well as all of _his _friends, Tyler found himself taking his frustration out on her. "I wasn't aware you had any?"

"Ouch…someone's grumpy this morning." She pulled out a blouse from the rack and put it back in mild disgust. It was hideous. "April was _very_ helpful. I think she's still buying into all the rubbish I spewed about what happened to her father. But I didn't call to talk about that."

Tyler huffed. This was the last thing he wanted to deal with at the moment. "And what did you call for?"

"Well given your sour mood I assume you're aware of the twelve dead hybrids littered around your family's cellar like open piñatas." She stated insouciantly.

"I'm aware."

"Well…" her tone suddenly changed to that of indignation. "What do you plan to do about it?"

…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

_-So let the stars a line, and let the water make wine 'cause broken souls become whole tonight…-_

Damon looked out into the lake as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He missed her. It had been five days since he sent her home and he kept listening to her endless voicemails over and over.

"_Hey it's me…look, I know why you sent me away. You think what I'm feeling for you is because of the sire bond, but I hate not being near you." _A small smile graced his lips as he saved the message again and closed his phone.

Jeremy and Matt were sparring behind him and he spared a glance when the newbie hunter filled Matt and pinned him to the ground. When Jeremy stood up he stared at Damon expectantly. "Did you see that?"

"Couldn't miss it…it was in slow motion." He mumbled in a snarky bored tone.

"Then teach me something useful." he complained with his arms out to his sides. "We've been here for days and so far all you've done is bark orders."

Damon turned his mouth down in consideration of his proposal. "Ok." Reaching behind him to the stakes lying on the table he picked one up and flipped it. "Take a seat on the bench quarter back…" he sauntered over with a cocky smirk. "Karate Kid wants a shot at the title."

Mat shook his head. "Jeremy, you're not ready for this."

Jeremy only smiled with confidence as he accepted the stake Damon tossed him, twirling it between his fingers.

"Well…" Damon goaded.

…

Elena hung up the phone with a disappointed sigh. He hadn't answered any of her calls and it hurt more with each voicemail she left him.

She needed him right now. Carol was dead, she had one friend she barely saw anymore, the other determined to fight for her "epic love"… and Stefan knew. Stefan knew that she slept with Damon, and that scared her more than she wanted to admit. What would he do now that he knew?

Elena wanted to believe that Stefan wouldn't go off the deep end. That he would definitely be hurt but above becoming the ripper he once was; but the fact that he hadn't said a word to her since, combined with his frequent perch at the bar of the Grill and careless flirting with the girls at school told her otherwise. She expected brooding…but he was _smiling_. He walked through halls like he was on the prowl.

It wasn't normal…not this soon.

Four Days Ago:

_Stefan let the rest of his whiskey coat his throat and signaled the bartender for another. He'd been here since he left the Boarding house after Elena ripped his heart out and compelled the bartender to keep serving him well passed closing. _

_The bell on the door chimed followed by two clicking heels. The unwanted company slid into the barstool next to him and smiled prettily. "Drowning in your sorrows, Stefan? And here I thought that was Damon's job."_

_Stefan didn't even cast a glance at her. "Apparently not…he's too busy fucking my ex-girlfriend." He muttered bitterly, pounded back another glass of whiskey._

_Rebekah seems honestly shocked. "Well…I must say I __**did**__ see that coming. The Damon sleeping with your girlfriend part, the 'ex' word____is what surprised me. I don't know why you're so upset, he did you a favor. Elena's a whiny little bitch…you can do better."_

_Stefan chuckled with no humor. "Like who…" he slowly dragged his eyes over to meet hers. "A blonde rapacious, sociopath that destroys everything she touches?"_

"_We blondes __**do**__ have more fun." She pouted crossing her arms like a petulant child. "On a side note…you are very mean when you've been drinking. You haven't even asked me who pulled the dagger out."_

"_Well I'm sure you're going to tell me."_

"_That April girl…very useful."_

_Stefan grabbed the bottle from behind the bar and poured himself another glass. "Congratulations. You're back and Klaus is safely lying in a bed of concrete restrained in Tyler's body…all is right in your world. Please leave." _

_Rebekah smirked. "Wrong." She watched as Stefan's face changed. "Klaus is very much in his own body…considering he'd have to be to kill twelve hybrids."_

"_What?"_

"_Yup. All dead…so sad." She stated sarcastically turning her mouth down in a frown. "But let's take a step back for a moment. You and Elena…" Stefan rolled his eyes. "What happened? I thought you in love with her, a stupid mistake if you ask me."_

_He sighed and resigned. "I am but…she's sired to Damon and that changed things." _

_Rebekah's eyes lit up. "Oh, this just keeps getting better. Sire bond…fascinating!" She stopped when she noticed the pain on his face. "I can make it stop you know…the pain doesn't have to be there if you don't want it."_

_Stefan was quiet for a very long time before he stood, staring down at Rebekah with a resolute expression. "Do it. Take it away…take away everything that made me love her."_

…

"Just try and focus." Shane sat across from Bonnie as she focused her energy on the candle.

She sighed and let her shoulders slump. "I'm trying Shane…There's just a lot on my mind." She rubbed her forehead.

"All the more reason to meditate. It'll help you clear your head." He continued to urge.

Bonnie sat back in her chair in his office. "It's just that with Carol dead, and Jeremy hunting vampires with Damon…"

Shane nodded with a small smile. "I get it…you're worried about them. That's understandable."

"And it's not safe for Tyler right now…Klaus killed all twelve of the hybrids because he was plotting against him." She continued.

Shane's eyes snapped back to her. "What?" Hayley had told him that they hadn't broken Adrian free of the sire bond. He thought there were eleven plus the Alpha that she was trying so hard to protect. He contained the grin that was crawling its way to the surface. He did it…twelve were sacrificed.

Bonnie was ready.

…

Elena walked down the halls of the school feeling more alone now than she ever did with no Damon, no Bonnie and no Caroline to accompany her. In her first weeks of being a vampire and even more so, her first week with Damon, she enjoyed having him show up as a random surprise in her day. Now he wouldn't even answer her calls. Tyler hadn't shown his face since his mother's death, and she was sure Caroline was with him.

She stopped in her tracks when she saw Stefan…but more importantly who he was with. Rebekah smiled flirtatiously and Stefan smirked back at her in a way she remembered. She had no reason to be mad or upset…but she was.

Her strides didn't stop until she stood in front of them, though neither of them turned their attention to her. "Stefan…can I talk to you?"

He glanced at her blinking as if surprised by her presence before crossing his arms casually in disinterest. "About what?"

"About why Rebekah isn't laying in a coffin," Elena shot the blonde a dirt look for good measure. "And why you're talking to her like you're best buds."

He laughed. "I wasn't aware who I slept with was your concern." Elena's shock was visible on her face.

"What? You're sleeping with her now?" She couldn't contain the dismay and disgust from her tone.

"Sorry Darling…you can't have them both." She turned to Stefan and kissed him thoroughly in front of her. Stefan quickly wrapped her in his arms and tunneled a hand through her blonde tresses. "Mm…see you after class." She sauntered off with an extra pep in her step.

Elena forced herself to stare at her shoes and not the blatant display of the reunited lovers. "Is this you trying to get back at me? I slept with Damon so you sleep with Rebekah? Tit for tat?" she asked once they were alone.

"I don't care what you do anymore, Elena. It's not my business. If you wanna fuck Damon, fuck him…God knows he'll jump at that opportunity again." He mocked callously.

Elena's jaw dropped at his crude comment. This was not the Stefan she knew…he would never speak to her that way. "I'm not" she lowered her voice. ", fucking Damon, Stefan. I love him. I'm in love with him." She added gently with nervousness to his reaction.

But he only shrugged. "Good for you. You've finally admitted it."

Elena shook her head in disbelief. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Acting like what, Elena? Like I'm okay? It's because I am. My world doesn't revolve around you." He leaned closer staring her down with a straight face.

A part of her felt pain at those words. She fell out of love with him, but she didn't think he would get over her so soon. It was selfish. "This isn't you…"

"Sure it is." He shifted his weight so his legs we shoulder width a part with his arms crossed in a confident stance. "I've always been this way. You've just never seen me when I'm not in love with you." Stefan walked away leaving her looking after him with shock.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

_-You know it's right so, lift your eyes and let me in cause baby I'm an alien like you…-_

Damon was sparring with Jeremy outside the cabin. They had been at it for hours and finally the vampire was seeing progress. It was killing him being this far away from Elena. Listening to her voicemails was all he had. He let his mind play the last voicemail he received from her again.

"_but I hate not being near you and I miss you Damon…I wish you would just let me come to you."_

He snapped himself out of it and countered one of Jeremy's punches. "You're getting better."

Jeremy smiled before he threw a punch that was deflected. Damon twisted his arm around his back and pinned him to the wall of the cabin. "But it would still be easy to kill you." Damon released him and stepped back. "Don't hesitate. Hesitation gets you killed."

"I'm hesitating because if I don't, I'll kill you. As much as I want to sometimes…Elena would be pissed." He admitted.

Damon laughed. "Trust me…killing newbie vamps is one thing, killing a vampire that's been around for over a century is another." His smile dropped. "And Elena might be pissed…but she'd get over it."

"Not while she's sired to you."

"Well isn't this nice..." Nicklaus stepped out from around the corner of the cabin with his hands linked behind his back. "He's right you know, sire bonds are very strong…and rare."

Damon frowned sourly. "What are you doing here?"

Nicklaus smiled. "I don't think people are too pleased with me. I made a bit of a mess…you understand. Figured I'd take some time off; kick back. Not to mention you've been taking your sweet time with holding up your end of the bargain. I'm here to move things along." He gestured a roll with his hand. "Training's good and well but when I'm not seeing any progress, I get a little anxious. So…I took liberties into my own hands." He explained vaguely with a secretive smirk. "And I started with the blonde pizza girl."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Damon probed bluntly narrowing his eyes at the unwelcome guest.

"Let's talk about it over a drink shall we? Meet me at the bar in town at eight." He sped off into the woods without another word.

"Well that doesn't sound like a good idea at all." The other vampire commented wryly.

…

The classrooms had all filter out over an hour ago. The memorial for Mayor Lockwood was still set up in the gymnasium, and the halls we're silent. The sound of heels clicked on the hard floors with purpose, followed by the stumbling steps of Atticus Shane.

Rebekah tossed him into an open classroom and shoved him into a seat. "Stefan tells me you know where to find the cure, and now you're going to tell me."

Shane readjusted himself in his seat. "Why would I do that?"

The vampire rested her hands on the desk in front of him and leaned in. "Because if you don't tell me by your own will, you'll tell me by mine." She threatened.

He managed a laugh in his problematic situation. "You can try. I can't be compelled."

Rebekah stood and crossed her arms with a devilish smirk. "Well then I'll just beat it out of you. You can still bleed…and I know just how much blood can be drained from a human before they die…but enough to still feel enormous amounts of pain." She tilted her head to the side. "Shall we try that then?"

Shane had the sense to look worried. "Why do you want the cure so badly? Is a thousand years of being an Original vampire too long?"

Her smirk fell as she realized he knew more than she thought he did. "I have my reasons. And you know who I am so you know what I'm capable of." Rebekah boasted confidently.

He nodded. "The youngest of the Mikaelson's, bar Hendrick, of course." He gulped when her eyes narrowed at the mention of her dead brother. "I've done my research. To be honest, I'm more afraid of your brother, Nicklaus. He's ruthless."

Rebekah snapped her hand out to grasp his neck. "The thing is, about my brother…" she brought her fangs forth and whispered menacingly within an inch of his face. "He likes the kill. I much prefer the torture." She plunged her fangs deep into the side of his neck, and then ripping them out viciously. "Now," her mouth was still covered in blood. "Let's try this again."

…

Bonnie rushed back into the school, using the back entrance, cursing herself for leaving the talismans that Shane had been teaching her to draw power from in her locker. She needed to be practicing on all her down time if she wanted to get this cure for Elena.

She was halfway down the hall when she noticed April standing at the front entrance of the building staring at the door blankly. "Hey…" April didn't even move. "April?" She touched her shoulder, and only then was Bonnie acknowledged. "Hey, what are you still doing here…everybody's gone."

"I'm waiting."

Bonnie frowned suspiciously. "Waiting for what?"

"Rebekah. She told me to wait for her…and watch." She turned her head back to the door, watching for any one that may approach the building.

The witched eye brows rose. "Rebekah's here? Why?"

"She wanted to know where to find it. The cure…only he knows."

Understanding crossed Bonnie's face. "Shane." She grabbed April by the hand and led her to her locker.

"Wait! I'm not supposed to leave." April resisted, but Bonnie pulled her anyway.

"It's fine…" She used her magic to fling open her locker, not wanting to waste time with the combination. She grabbed the talismans she needed and locked them in a classroom.

"What are we doing?"

Bonnie gripped the odd trinket, closed her eyes and focused. "I need to protect him. He's connected to these; they were his."

April looked worried and interested all at once. "Are you doing _magic_?"

"Shh." Bonnie hushed her immediately. "I need silence." She found with expression, she didn't have to cast spells with her words. Her emotions were enough. For a few long seconds, there was utter silence, and then the sporadic gags of someone choking jolted her from her trance. When Bonnie's eyes popped open, April was bleeding at the neck and choking on the blood in her mouth. The witch rushed to her, catching her just before she fell to the ground. "April…April!" Looking down at the talisman in her hand, Bonnie immediately dropped it, and April gasped for breath. "Are you okay? I can heal you."

…

Rebekah threw Shane a handkerchief she had in her purse. "Clean yourself up, you're bleeding all over the place."

Shane took the offered cloth weakly and held it to the new wound in his neck. "That's what happens when the carotid artery gets punctured viciously." He muttered sarcastically.

"Don't I know it." She threw him a sly smirk. "It's half the fun. I like a blood bath as much as the next vampire…except when I'm wearing white. Now…the cure; where is it?"

He laughed again. "You're going to have to torture me a bit more for that information."

"Not a problem." She lunched back in for another bite.

…

Elena stepped out from the Salvatore house with her phone to her ear, and hopped up onto the stone wall already prepared to leave Damon another desperate voicemail message.

"Hope your day's going better than mine, gotta say, I'm liking the odds." He answered as he stopped digging.

Elena sighed in relief. "Well…he speaks." She joked. "It's really great to hear your voice, Damon."

"I'd say the same but I've had a lot of material to work with."

Elena had the shame to be embarrassed as she tucked her hair behind her ear. "Yeah…I may have gone psycho girlfriend on you for a bit there. I missed you."

Damon managed a tiny smile at the word girlfriend. "I missed you too."

Her beaming smile showed how happy that made her, but it dropped with the news that followed. "A lot's been going here, Damon. Stefan knows about us…"

Damon's eyes widened. "Oh…how'd he take it?"

"How do you think?"

Damon raised his brows. "Well I'm thinking for the first time all week I'm happy to be at camp nowhere."

Realization dawned on Elena. "How's Jeremy?"

He winced. "That depends on how much you trust me."

She smiled at the worry that laced his tone. "You know that I trust you."

"I think he's going to get through this just fine." Damon found himself admitting with a bit of pride. He would never say it out loud, but he cared about Jeremy as much as he cared about his own brother.

"Thank you for looking out for him."

"Yeah well I told them if they were good I'd buy them both ice cream so…" he teased. "Look I gotta go." He stayed reluctantly.

Elena sat up, eager to say what was on her mind. "Not yet." She took a deep breath. "Something happened today…I realized something about you; about us." She started nervously. "And you can say it's the sire bond, you know what maybe…maybe it is but…I'm telling you," she seemed almost in awe of her own words. "it is the most real thing I have ever felt in my entire life." There was so much passion and emphasis on each word, trying to prove to him that this was real. "I love you, Damon…"

Shock covered his face, as he waited basking in her words; in the words he'd been waiting to hear for what seemed like his whole life.

"I love you." It made her giddy to say.

"Look…I'm going to get this cure for you. And I'm gonna have to do things that you're not going to like."

Elena shook her head. "Damon..."

"But listen carefully…get in your car; right now. Come to me." He choked back the emotion he was feeling.

Elena smiled; happier than she'd been in a long time. "I'll be there soon." She didn't hesitate. Hanging up the phone she bolted off the Salvatore stone wall and back to her car, feeling like she was going home; where he was.

Damon hung up the phone, still dazed, and unbelieving. She loved him…she said it. He looked up with a ghost of a smile, finally seeing things fall into place.


End file.
